9 Tail Fox

Chefs Jongwook Lee and WonGoo Joun didn’t set out to open another Korean restaurant that plays the hits. With 9 Tail Fox, they were more interested in widening the frame—showing what Korean cooking can look like once it’s filtered through years spent in Montreal kitchens like Big in Japan, Cadet, Pullman, and Maison Boulud.

The chefs use small plates as a way to stretch Korean cooking beyond its usual borders in Montreal. Familiar touchstones—galbi, tonkatsu, yuringi—appear with measured tweaks, whether it’s pork cutlets dressed with sesame and wasabi or fried chicken cut with an Asian-leaning chimichurri. Elsewhere, Korean flavours slide into less expected forms: kimchi labneh with lamb, perilla risotto under duck confit, or a paella-inspired jjamppong built on sweet rice and shellfish. Even the bistro gestures—beef ragù with house fettuccine, burrata with kimchi-seasoned tomatoes—feel purposeful rather than playful. The menu reads like a record of where the chefs have worked, eaten, and lived, filtered through a Korean palate that roams, and roams well.